adas paint their skins?" the Huron coldly
continued; "we have heard them boast that their faces were pale."

"When an Indian chief comes among his white fathers," returned Duncan,
with great steadiness, "he lays aside his buffalo robe, to carry the
shirt that is offered him. My brothers have given me paint, and I wear
it."

A low murmur of applause announced that the compliment to the tribe was
favorably received. The elderly chief made a gesture of commendation,
which was answered by most of his companions, who each threw forth a
hand, and uttered a brief exclamation of pleasure. Duncan began to
breathe more freely, believing that the weight of his examination was
past; and as he had already prepared a simple and probable tale to
support his pretended occupation, his hopes of ultimate success grew
brighter.

After a silence of a few moments, as if adjusting his thoughts, in order
to make a suitable answer to the declaration their guest had just given,
another warrior arose, and placed himself in an attitude to speak. While
his lips were yet in the act of parting, a low but fearful sound arose
from the forest, and was immediately succeeded by a high, shrill yell,
that was drawn out, until it equalled the longest and most plaintive
howl of the wolf. The sudden and terrible interruption caused Duncan to
start from his seat, unconscious of everything but the effect produced
by so frightful a cry. At the same moment, the warriors glided in a body
from the lodge, and the outer air was filled with loud shouts, that
nearly drowned those awful sounds, which were still ringing beneath the
arches of the woods. Unable to command himself any longer, the youth
broke from the place, and presently stood in the centre of a disorderly
throng, that included nearly everything having life, within the limits
of the encampment. Men, women, and children; the aged, the infirm, the
active, and the strong, were alike abroad; some exclaiming aloud, others
clapping their hands with a joy that seemed frantic, and all expressing
their savage pleasure in some unexpected event. Though astounded, at
first, by the uproar, Heyward was soon enabled to find its solution by
the scene that followed.

There yet lingered sufficient light in the heavens to exhibit those
bright openings among the tree-tops, where different paths left the
clearing to enter the depths of the wilderness. Beneath one of them, a
line of warriors issued from the woods, and advance